Barely a month after Gareth Cliff’s highly publicized comments defending Israel, fellow South African celebrity Shashi Naidoo has done the same thing, earning the ire of the haters.
Model and media personality Shashi Naidoo came under fire after comments she made about the unrest between Israel and Palestine went viral, and caused widespread outrage.
In a series of tweets Shashi got into a debate with a follower on Instagram, calling Gaza a “sh**hole” and was seemingly pro-Israeli. She bashed Gaza for apparently not using aid and resources in helping its population but pursuing an “ambition to annihilate Israel”.
It all started after Shashi shared a picture with Black Coffee in Ibiza, and a follower slammed Black Coffee for a performance in Israel earlier this year.
The comments have since been deleted from Shashi’s social media accounts, however screenshots of it have been circulated.
In the wake of the backlash, Shashi issued a public apology on Instagram Stories, saying that she did not mean any harm by her comments.
“I am extremely sorry about the statements I have made, unfortunately my comments came from very little knowledge of the political standing as I am not a political figure or even follow politics,” read part of the statement.
She also went on to add how she worked closely with a lot of Muslims and that she admired many traits of the religion.
Shashi also shared an emotional video claiming to have received “10 death threats” in one day.
“The apology I made today was very sincere, I can assure you of that. I have already received 10 death threats today and a lot of backlash.”
https://twitter.com/KINGAya_/status/1008082387903885312
Here are her exact comments. She was right on the money with them.
The media is portraying the death threats as a response to the specific Gaza sh*thole comment. This is not accurate. I have no doubt she received the death threats for defiantly standing up for Israel and bashing Hamas. After all, the palestinans and Israel haters are constantly portraying Gaza as a sh*thole themselves!
It is a shame Shashi felt the need to apologize but it is understandable. As someone who receives death threats all the time, I can tell you it is not pleasant. And I’m just a small fry – she is high-profile, which makes the threats more credible. Given her manifest understanding of the situation (and the fact she apologized but did not retract her comments), I doubt she has changed her views – she is just trying to protect herself and her family.
I applaud Shashi for telling it like it is and getting up the haters’ noses. Stay strong!
